Don't Call Me Chicken!

9 August 2022

By Frank Scoblete

Marty McFly (brilliantly played by Michael J. Fox) in the wonderful movie series “Back to the Future,” got to travel in time, both to the future and the past. He also got very (as in very, very, very) annoyed with anyone who would say or suggest he was a “chicken” of any kind.

Calling McFly a chicken was an open and direct invitation for him to do something stupid. “Call me a chicken, will you? Well, I’ll show you I’m not a chicken by doing a dopey thing right now!”

Many of us react to the chicken attack by doing stupid things. As kids the word “chicken” is a loaded word ready to burst into our consciousness and sometimes even cause fights that harried teachers often have to break up.

“I couldn’t finish my lunch because Big Bo-Bo started another fight.”

Casino gamblers are sometimes true victims of the “chicken” dilemma. You would hope this wouldn’t be so but sometimes casino gambling can bring out the moody or angry teenager in us.

I have found the chicken problem in players who feel the need. or the difficult to repress impulse, to raise their bets because others at the table are raising their bets.

My acquaintance Freddie Freedman (not his real name and not the baseball player) loves to play craps. He is an all-over-the-layout bettor. That means he makes some good bets but he also makes the worst bets at the game.

During sessions when a few shooters make points and numbers galore and the money is coming in, instead of enjoying the wins he looks around the table and gets the urge to increase his bets as his fellow players are upping their bets.

He once explained to me why he did this. “You know, I was at this table and everyone was winning and one guy saw that my bets had stayed the same level. He said flat out to me, ‘what’s up with you? Are you a chicken to raise your bets even though you have been winning?’ So, I raised my bets. I parleyed them all which meant I doubled them!

“I know, I know, I know, all I was doing was giving the casino’s edge a shot at more of my money.”

“And what happened?” I asked.

“You were there,” he said. “You saw me go down in flames.”

Freddie reacted to the word “chicken.”

Many of us (mostly my fellow males I assume) have a tendency to want to look brave in front of others. In casinos, I guess looking brave entails betting more and more when you are winning, never putting into your mind that the house edge will eat away at raised bets just as it eats away at all your bets.

Good streaks don’t last into the future.

If good streaks were animals, they would be extinct because they only happen in the past. They tell you nothing about the immediate future. Raising one’s bet with the hope (and that’s all it is, “a hope”) that such streaks will keep going is not a smart move as a long-term plan.

In short, never make plans that rely just on hope because such plans don’t always have any reality attached to them.

All the best in and out of the casinos! Please be a chicken!

Frank Scoblete’s web site is www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, libraries and bookstores.